Trump once again blasts the F-35!

via DOD Buzz

“We are going to negotiate tougher deals … where we get more equipment for less money,” he said on Thursday.
“For instance, you saw the other day about an airplane. Now I have a nice airplane. But this plane is going to cost $4.2 billion, Air Force One. I don’t want a plane to fly around in that costs $4.2 billion, believe me … not going to happen … and I didn’t order it, please, remember this. But we’re going to work with Boeing, we’re going to cut the price way down — way, way down.”
He added, “And how about the F-35 fighter. It’s a disaster, it’s totally out of control. So we’re going to get more equipment for our military and we’re going to get better equipment for our military at a smaller price.”

He's going after the holy grail.  Better deals on high tech equipment.  I don't know if he'll actually get it done but I wouldn't bet against him.

The real question is where everyone's patron saint, Mad Dog Mattis stands.  Will he stand with his buddies in the General's club or will he join forces with his boss and push for a bit of change?

Time will tell.

CH-147F Transports a Sea Container....Photos by Corporal Bryan Carter

This can't be real! I'd be eating catfish for days(months?)!

pic via cerastes Tumblr Page

The war in Syria is the biggest lie of the past decade.

Thanks to Spiridom for the link!



This is an absolutely amazing video.

I don't know the organization that this lady belongs to but damn!  She dealt with that journalist in almost a brutal way.

But let's put that to the side for a moment.  Remember how we were told that the fight against ISIS could take decades?  That was insanity on a plate!  We could roll Iraq's Army in a matter of months (almost a half million men) and yet ISIS would take years?  It didn't make sense when they said it and yet no one challenged them.  What was that?  You don't remember?  Check this out. via The Washington Times.

U.S. leaders must be prepared to fight extremism and radical jihad emanating from the Middle East for “decades,” says a retired Marine Corps four-star general who has spent the past decade on the military and diplomatic battlefields of America’s war on terrorism.
John R. Allen, who served most recently as President Obama’s envoy to the international coalition against the Islamic State, warned in an interview that Washington will be courting disaster if it withdraws from the region any further than it already has.
“The region, as bad as it is, can worsen,” Mr. Allen said in an interview with The Washington Times as part of a special series of articles examining the war against the terrorist group, also known as ISIS and ISIL.
“Absent clear and unequivocal U.S. leadership and the long-term cooperation of the community of nations, we’re condemned to fight for the foreseeable future,” said the retired general, now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

via The Hill Blog.

The war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) could last more than a decade, Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) told reporters on Thursday.
"I think we do have a lot to debate. Realize this is not just bombing a mountainside or securing a dam. This is a war that we want for another 10, 15 years," said King, of the House Intelligence Committee.
{mosads}When asked whether Congress might rethink defense spending cuts in light of the conflict, King replied, "To do that, I think we have to recalibrate our defense and realize we have to be on a war-time footing when it comes to spending."

via CBN.

President Barack Obama is proposing a new strategy in the fight against ISIS, saying the battle against the Islamic State will not be quick. In fact, he says it could take decades.
During a rare visit to the Pentagon, Obama laid out his revamped strategy, saying the fight against the Islamic State will require more than just weapons.
"No amount of military force will end the terror that is ISIL unless it's matched by a broader effort, political and economic," he said.

Decades to destroy a force that at most numbered 50K when it first burst on the scene?

We've been lied to.

We've been deceived by politicians (expected), military leaders (once unexpected but that is changing fast) and world institutions/nations (expected).

Games are being played and people are losing their lives because of it.  Its ok to be patriotic.  Its not ok to allow yourself to be made an ass of.  If they lie to you that means they don't respect you.

Be advised my fellow citizens.  These people don't respect us.

Spanish Army Tigre Attack Helicopter in flight.

GRIPEN M

Thanks to Spinfight for the link!

PDF here.

11th Marine Expeditionary Amphibious Beach Landing....photos by Staff Sgt. Scott McAdam

CH-53K King Stallion Achieves Initial Operational Testing

Reminder. AMPV "turnover" ceremony is today at 11AM EST.

If you're interested in the AMPV turnover ceremony then you can tune into the BAE Facebook Page at 11AM EST to check it out.  Personally I get tired of the dignitaries that seem to think it's about them instead of the vehicle but to each his own.

Open Comment Post. Dec 15, 2016

Aleppo rebel evacuation under way after ceasefire deal

via Reuters.

An operation to evacuate thousands of civilians and fighters from the last rebel bastion in Aleppo was under way on Thursday, part of a ceasefire deal that would end years of fighting for the city and mark a major victory for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said the evacuation of around 200 wounded people had started. Russia, a major ally of Assad, said 5,000 Syrian rebels and family members were being brought out of eastern Aleppo.
The convoy of 10 ambulances and at least 17 green buses with nearly 1,000 aboard drove from the Ramousah district next to the rebel-held area of Aleppo, which was besieged for months by Syrian government forces, a Reuters reporter on the scene said.
Syrian state television said those leaving were opposition fighters. Rebel officials have said that civilians who wish to leave will also be able to do so as part of the ceasefire and evacuation deal. Footage of the buses appeared to show that most of those inside were young men.
Women ululated in celebration as the buses passed through a government-held area, and some waved the Syrian flag.
Earlier, ambulances trying to evacuate people came under fire from fighters loyal to the Syrian government, who injured three people, a rescue service spokesman said.


"Thousands of people are in need of evacuation, but the first and most urgent thing is wounded, sick and children, including orphans," said Jan Egeland, the U.N. humanitarian adviser for Syria.

Here. 

Well this seals the deal for me...oh and the title to this story is from Reuters...I didn't make it!

ISIS hasn't been the focus of our operations in Syria.  Its been a fight against the Assad regime and in turn its been a proxy war between the US and Russia.

All the stories from Aleppo about women and children being injured was just a smoke screen to cover for the people that leadership was actually concerned about...the rebels in their terms...head chopping terrorists in mine.

This.

This is why they're going after Trump so hard.  This is why the long knives are out over his SecState pick.

They want conflict with Russia over a piss ant Middle East country that means jack shit to the majority of the American people.  I've wondered aloud how a force numbering less than 50k fighters could hold off the combined might of the NATO air arms and now its obvious.  They haven't been targeting them.

The conspiracy theorists might have stumbled onto a painful truth after all.

Anti-Ship Missiles Fired Out of HIMARS?

via KitUp!

“We’re looking at munitions and capabilities that can be fired out of existing things,” he told reporters during the conference. “I would love to have an anti-ship cruise missile I could shoot out of a HIMARS launcher. So if the Marines, for example, were to go to seize and secure an advance expeditionary amphibious base and the adversary had ships, rather attack them with an airplane, I’d like to be able to have some way to defend from the shore.”

And then this.

Neller said the Marine Corps and the Army were both looking at requirements to assess the feasibility of using the system to fire anti-ship ordnance as well.
“The Army’s looking at a lot of stuff and a lot of different type of capabilities that actually be fired from artillery, so I’m not going to get into that,” he said. “…We just need to make sure that we can continue to be able to invest in [research and development], and when we find something, that we can figure out a way to field it a little bit faster.”
Neller would also like to see Tomahawk missiles aboard amphibious assault ships, which carry Marines across the globe, he said at the conference.
“Imagine that the big deck amphibs have F-35Bs that can hold any target at risk,” he said, referring to the new joint strike fighter aircraft. “Imagine that the [vertical launching system] space on LPD-17 actually has Tomahawk missiles.”

Wow.  Neller is sounding more and more like a freaking Ground Officer and less like the second coming of Amos.

Notice the language there?

 "...Secure an advanced expeditionary amphibious base..." 

That's old skool Marine Corps thinking.  Not the aviation centric stuff we've been saddled with.  Even better it shows that thinking is migrating away from strike being an all air affair.

I'm being hopeful but could we finally see the beginning of a little balance coming back to the Marine Corps?  I can only hope.  One thing though.  I still say that the MEU needs to be reinforced.  If we're going to add anti-air, increased armor (still say we need more tanks, AAV/ACV, LAV, and apparently now anti-ship capability...not to mention a deep strike option of ATACMS), cyber, electronic warfare and despite what naysayers say increased infantry we're going to need to revamp our basic operational unit.  A reinforced MEU will be a more flexible and powerful instrument.  Combine two of them and you'll actually have a Marine Expeditionary Brigade worthy of the name.

Yeah.  Things MIGHT be looking up in Marine land.